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Hunger a problem in New Zealand?
− surely not, this is a First World country! The Year 12 Home Economics students at St Mary’s College, Wellington were challenged in the first term of 2012 to find out if hunger was a problem in New Zealand or not. This was part of the unit
they were studying to gain Level 2 Home Economics credits.
Firstly, the St Vincent de Paul Society food bank was approached and invited to come and talk to the students.
Questions that were asked were: • What is a food bank? • Who can ask for help from a food bank? • What types of foods are given to the clients?
Victoria from the Society brought with her a sample of some of the food items which are given in a food parcel. She explained how sometimes the clients did not want to take foods such as pasta and rice which surprised the students. The reason for this is that some of the clients were not sure how
to cook those foods. The students were then asked to make up two separate parcels. One to the value of $20 needed to
include basic ingredients such as flour, sugar, powdered milk, oil and seasonings such as salt and mixed herbs. The budget of the second parcel was $30. The food items in this parcel needed to include foods which were a good source of protein, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, and fibre as well as
other vitamins and minerals.
Examples of foods which the students worked on were canned tomatoes, dehydrated vegetables, lentils, canned beans, pasta and rice. Some added a half a dozen eggs and a small block of cheese.
The brief they were given was that the foods
had to be non-‐perishable, economical and nutritious.
The class was divided into two groups. They had to go to the supermarket and buy the
ingredients they were going to put into their parcels. Then they had to trial the recipes, cost them and write them out.
The brief for the recipes was they needed to be
easy to make and written with clear instructions to help those clients who were not confident in cooking. They also needed to be tasty,
nutritious and of course economical. Not an easy task!
The students judged each other’s recipes. This they enjoyed doing!
The whole task was done during Lent and the class then decided to have a food drive at
school to collect as many food items as they could for families who needed help through the food bank.
Some of the comments written after the class reflected on the task:
I found it very difficult to buy enough food on the limited budget. It made me realise how fortunate I am.
I wish I had done more to collect food for the food drive as I now understand how difficult it is to feed
a family nutritious food on a limited budget. It is even more difficult if you don’t have cooking skills and a lack of equipment.
This was the introduction to the unit they were going to be assessed on to gain credits for NCEA
Level 2. It was an effective introduction to a difficult and challenging issue. Trying to walk in someone else’s shoes can help us understand a little of the difficulties they face.
Is hunger a problem in New Zealand or not? In the beginning the girls had their own ideas, but through their research using statistics, newspapers and working with the food bank they realised
that food insecurity is a growing concern in New Zealand.
-‐ Luiza Rigutto, Home Economics Teacher, St Mary’s College, Wellington
Victoria collected the food from the food drive as well as food parcels made up by the class with the recipes for clients to use.
One of the recipes placed in the food parcel:
Tomato bean pasta
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
100g pasta, any type 210g tinned kidney beans, drained and rinsed 25g or ¼C Surprise mixed dry vegetables 250g tinned chopped tomatoes ½t mixed herbs Salt and pepper to taste 3T edam cheese, grated (optional) Method:
1) Fill a medium saucepan with water. Add ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring to boil. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook for 10-‐15 minutes. It is cooked when it is soft.
2) In another saucepan, place the dried vegetables together with ¼ cup of water. Allow to simmer until water has evaporated and vegetables are soft.
3) Add the kidney beans, tomatoes and mixed herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cook until flavours are well blended.
4) Drain the pasta when cooked and mix into the tomato mix or serve the tomato mix on top of the pasta dish.
5) Serve hot with grated cheese if desired and enjoy this nutritious meal!